MSN Etiquette

One too many faux-pas on the part of my contacts on MSN have spurred me to type this list up. Criticize away. See if I care.

MSN Etiquette (for beginners and wankers)

1. If you are having a convo and are delayed in your responses, offer a simple apology, explanation for your tardiness or "brb."
2. If you say "brb," that means 5 minutes or less. Don't just go offline or flop.
3. Hanging around as "Appear Offline" all the time makes you sad and anti-social. Why are you even on MSN anyway?
4. Custom smileys are cute. The first time. And then they are annoying.
5. Don't nudge. Ever.
6. Change your display pics from time to time. You haven't been to Cuba since 2005.
7. If you like your nick so much that you just can't fathom taking the twelve seconds to change it, or because it's just "sooo good" and represents you so well, then see above (6).
8. Try and clear out all those contacts who you don't even know and probably talked to like once. Yes, it seems impressive that you have 471 friends. But then again, you don't.
9. Online means Online, Ready to Chat & Respond Within 15 seconds. If you can't meet these criteria, pick another status.
10. If your chat partner goes offline without a "bye," "peace," or "one," or otherwise offends your sensibilites, don't bring up the issue in real life.
11. MSN is not real life. There can be pauses, random starts to convos, and unsolicited contact at 4am.
12. LOL is not what it means, ever. Stop using it. Also see "OMG, ROFL, :DDD."
13. If you are having a chat that lasts longer than one hour with a person who lives in the same city and you are both otherwise unoccupied, feel free to use a device from the 1900s called a telephone. Or better yet, meet them face-to-face. MSN is not a substitute for actual communication.

=//Turnquest